Chapter 13: Setting Their Tongues Wagging: Speaking and Discussion 191
One of several ways of showing that your expressions are not fact though, is
to teach your students some words that show uncertainty such as:✓ Maybe
✓ Perhaps
✓ Possibly
In the case of possibly you need to show the right word order. So you gener-
ally say It may possibly be this (that’s subject + auxiliary verb + possibly +
main verb) instead of Perhaps it’s this, which is easy because you’re simply
adding a word to the beginning of a normal sentence.The beauty of these words and phrases is that students immediately sound
more fluent without having to do too much work. Sometimes it isn’t what you
say, but how you say it that counts. That’s why, for higher-level students I also
teach them how to stall: ‘That’s an interesting question. I’ve never thought
about that but.. .’.You’d be surprised how many students have passed their speaking exams by
saying very little but saying it elegantly.Further to this, you can use a number of modal verbs to show that there’s a
greater or lesser degree of certainty. Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs such as:
might, may, could, must and can’t.You need to teach these words as a grammar lesson though because the stu-
dents need to know how the modal verb fits into a sentence:✓ Subject + modal verb (+ not ) + infinitive verb without to:
It might not be a good idea✓ The past form is as follows:
Subject + modal verb (+ not )+ have + past participle:It might not have been a good idea.Interjecting, rephrasing and summing up.......................................
In a conversation you do more than give an opinion then keep quiet.
Sometimes you interrupt to add something important, explain in other words
to make the point clearer, bring things to a close and so on. These are skills
that effective English speakers possess and which you need to teach your
students. Let them know how to do these things in accordance with English-
speaking culture and in a polite way.